Ashes, Ashes
by xMiss Murderx
Summary: It started with a dream, and then people start to go missing and end up dead. The only tie they have is that they are somehow connected to Inuyasha. But if he is innocent, than who is behind this sadistic genocide? Rated Mature for later chapters.
1. Prelude

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the italicized AFI lyrics (obviously) or any of the Inuyasha characters. Any characters specified as my own.

Prelude

_This is what I brought you, this you can keep…_

He had never witnessed someone run so quickly in his entire life; the scent of her sweat, mix with salty tears of agony and fear sent him an adrenaline rush, such as one would get while doing something that gave them great excitement. The trees rustled with every movement he made as his feet slipped off branch after branch, now above her; it was snowing, however, he was not cold, intense rushes of the flakes of ice stung against his skin. Yet he pressed on.

_This is what I brought, you may forget me._

An intense beat filled into his head, it was all he could hear, a mix of his own strikes against the limbs of the forestry and the beat of her pulse and his heart. He felt her terror with every step she took, he craved it passionately, with a powerful push he went sailing to the ground; a loud thud was sent through the blackened night as his legs trembled slightly with the shock of hitting the ground at such a great alacrity. He saw a flash of dark, apprehensive eyes turn back and falter in pace.

_I promise to depart just promise one thing…_

He raised himself once more, his bare metatarsals digging into the clean white sheets on the forest floor. Off again he raced after her gaining a quick speed, his breath, heavy, anticipating the catch of the prey. His silver hair followed behind him like a blanket, his own claws dug into the palms of his hands until he felt a fresh spill of blood emit from them. His ears twitched as he caught the distressed sound of her own heavy breath; it sent a shiver down his spine causing his velocity to increase, gaining strides towards her quicker than before.

_Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep._

She had never been so afraid before in her entire life, she could feel her legs pulsating, aching from running such a distance that she had already gone, and expecting to go a great deal more. Why was he doing this to her; what had she done? She tried to concentrate on other things, for her own safety, she had already lost time from the mistake of slowing to turn, who knew if she would be able to regain it.

_This is what I brought you this you can keep, this is what I brought. This is what I brought you may forget me._

The sound of deadly foot steps were close behind her, every moment felt like the next would be her last; she knew she wouldn't be able to stay ahead of him for much longer, and that in itself made her want to scream.

_I promised you my heart, just promise to sing…_

She took a sharp turn through a patch of enclosed trees and bushes, no longer holding tightly to the wool blanket she had fled with in the beginning; huffing through her mouth now in large breaths she came to a log, she had a rush of anxiety, how would she jump it? She would never make it over; nevertheless, squeezing her eyes shut she pushed off the ground with all her might and sailed through the air. Looking down she noticed the log going underneath her; she would actually make it. A false hope; as she came down towards the ground, she felt a large weight thrown against her, sending her harshly to the ground.

_Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep._

She struggled and thrashed her entire body everywhere trying to slip out from under the mass, her body faced the ground, but soon she was flipped over and straddled, a frighteningly familiar face loomed over her, a malicious smile hanging over her.

"Why did you run?"

He asked her, pulling her flailing arms above her head.

"Please," She cried, "Let me go."

He ignored her cries, "Why are you fighting me? Have I ever caused you harm?"

She sobbed freely now, "Please, if there was anything here, any need between us, please, remember it, and let me go."

He laughed cruelly, leaning down, his cheek against her own; licking and biting her ear he whispered in a raspy tone:

"I never needed you."

_This is what I thought, I thought you'd need me. This is what I thought, so think me naïve. I'd promise you a heart, you'd promise to keep…_

She pushed against him, snapping her head away from his; the once sought soft touch she craved now burned furiously, she wanted him away. She contorted her body at an odd angle, trying to move against him.

"Leave me alone, please," She begged, "I want to go home."

"But isn't this home?" He questioned her, with soaked sarcasm, "You live here more than you do in your own world."

She struggled once again, kicking out her legs, but with no such luck; if she had ever doubted his strength, she knew she was wrong now.

He loved how she fought him, the feel of her quivering body against him sent a chill down his back. So much beauty she had, he wanted to break it, tear it apart, he wanted to rape her mentality away from any happiness.

He leaned down pressing slightly against her:

"Such innocence,"

_Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep._

He ran a bloody hand down her side and her smooth leg, caressing her thigh slightly:

"Such untouched angelic loveliness."

_Kiss my eyes and lay me to sleep._

He felt her body shiver beneath him, out of cold and out of horror; he put his free hand onto her chest sitting back slightly, grasping lightly:

"Such magnificence,"

He looked straight into her tear-streaked face and through her pained eyes:

"You were always my favorite,"

He paused for a moment:

"To kill."

He then thrust his hand deep into her chest, his sharp claws digging into her flesh; she made a gurgling sound of pain and surprise; her own hands scratched into the snow, which had began to fall anew. They then relaxed, and he felt a sudden sorrow as he saw the light in her eyes leave her, however they remained wide…And afraid.

_Kiss my eyes and lay me to…_

Inuyasha bolted upright, sweat rolling down his back, he heaved with distress and a pain in his chest, he felt like he was going to vomit, shivering he looked around, everyone remained sound asleep. He looked over at Kagome who held Shippo close in her arms, but he could only look past her and see her dead eyes and her lashes catching white snowflakes into them, he stood looking around, a sudden trepidation stealing through him. Inuyasha never looked back as he fled into the darkness.

_Sleep._


	2. An Awkward Situation

Disclaimer: According to "The Man" I have to put one of these up for every chapter, well you know what; PTTHB! On the man, anyways, I do not own any of the Inuyasha characters, if I ever have a character that I do own I will surely let you all know.

Now I give you…

Ashes, Ashes

An awkward situation

Inuyasha sat quietly in the tree, watching the others from above, his amber eyes beginning to stare off into the distance of the clear morning. Not to far from his tree Kagome packed up her bag, Shippo standing beside her and handing her random items.

"What's with Inuyasha this morning? I mean, he's been acting strange today."

Kagome looked over at Inuyasha who seemed to be off in his own world and sighed

"I'm not sure," she paused for a moment to stare at the blanket she held in her hands, "He was gone from camp since last night, I know that much, I woke up to the sound of his feet scampering off into the night."

"So much for being stealthy," Shippo commented smirking as he sat down, picking up a leaf and tossing it into the air. Kagome ignored his last comment and straightened, picking up her bag; "Hey Inuyasha," She called, "Are you just going to sit there all day or are you going to come on?"

Inuyasha looked up as if dazed, he then shook his head slightly and glared at her, "Oh shut up, I'm coming."

"Inuyasha," Miroku said quietly, holding the demon back a few steps; "What?" Inuyasha asked irritated, he had never been terribly fond of the monk, let alone being held back by him, he had always assumed it was to get a good look at the back end of the female parties.

"Miroku, if this is one of your schemes to blame me for something than I swear I'll—'' He was stopped by the raising of Miroku's hand, which only annoyed him more, however, before he was able to protest anymore the monk began to speak.

"Inuyasha, I am usually not one to pry,"

"Blasphemy!" Inuyasha began, yet again, he was stopped.

"Please, let me finish," Miroku sighed and began once again, "I noticed you left in a hurry last night, and you have seemed distant all day today, and you've seemed especially cold towards Kagome…Would you mind telling me what she has done to annoy you?"

"You are full of it Monk," Inuyasha spat; he didn't want to admit that he had dreamt of killing the woman who only walked a few paces ahead of himself, he didn't want to admit that he was afraid; and he didn't want to admit that he could be shaken by something such as dreams. Miroku began to speak once again, yet again; conversely, Inuyasha cut him off, "Listen, even if there was something wrong, what makes you think that I am willing to talk about it with you?"

Miroku opened his mouth to retort nevertheless, he closed his mouth, there was no use in arguing the subject with Inuyasha at this point, as to whether or not he would share it with anyone later was an unknown matter.

Instead, he looked over at Kagome and asked in a more cheerful tone: "Kagome, if I may ask, we've been going this way for a while and I was wondering, how much closer are we to these supposed jewel shards?"

It was true, they had been going in the same direction for quite some time now and had found nothing save for a few patches of trees and piles of bones.

"I'm telling you," Kagome insisted, "There is a jewel shard nearby." She stopped, the wind brushing her skirt slightly as she put her hands on her hips. Shippo hugged onto her leg until she broke her regal stance and picked him up.

"Besides, have I let you guys down before?"

The others gave a distracted look, "Listen Kagome," Inuyasha growled stepping forward, actually speaking to her directly while facing her for the first time that day "We've been going this way for two days on the notion that you say there is a jewel shard nearby."

"He is correct Kagome," Sango commented quietly beside her, "this does seem a bit abnormal, we should've found it by now."

"Well I don't know," Kagome bit her lip uncertainly while loosening her hold on Shippo to let him down. "Maybe it's moving."

"Oh yeah Kagome, real credible; this jewel shard must have sprouted legs and is sending us on a wild goose chase; I think you're just malfunctioning." Inuyasha said crossing his arms.

"Well excuse me, if I'm malfunctioning then maybe you should just look for jewel shards on your own for a while!" Kagome turned to stalk away but stopped momentarily to continue, "And did you ever think that maybe a demon has the jewel shard or something."

"I would have smelled it by now."

"Maybe your nose is malfunctioning."

"Or maybe," a voice intervened calmly from behind, "this demon is hiding its scent; it wouldn't be the first demon to do so." Inuyasha snapped his head, snidely remarking, "Leave it to the amorous monk Miroku to save a girl from a losing battle,"

"What is up with you today Inuyasha?" Kagome said staring at him boldly, "Nothing is up with me Kagome," he mocked her voice when saying her name, "I'm just getting really agitated at the fact that for the past few days we have been running across the countryside and beyond searching for something that isn't—what the!"

A cracking noise hit a nearby tree causing it to snap and plummet with a crash to the ground; "Shippo, are you alright?" The little fox demon had fell backwards staring wide eyed at where he had just been standing, "Did you see that, I could've been killed there!"

"I think that tree is the least of your worries Shippo," Inuyasha said slowly looking upward, his hand gradually reaching for Tetsuiga; above it flapped, it was hideous, with the face of a young woman it stared down at them, smirking. "A harpy? I…I thought you said they didn't exist anymore." Kagome whispered, as if the beast could not see them but rather hear them; "I assumed so as well, however this does make sense, this used to be harpy territory, quite a few roamed here, though they were solitary from each other." Miroku said in an equally quiet voice.

"This isn't the time for a history lesson Miroku, how do I kill it?" Inuyasha growled eyes still on the bird hovering above. "You won't be able to attack it head on; it'll be smart for that,"

"So, they're smart huh," Sango cut in knowing all to well what a harpy could really do but a bit to shocked to say it. "Yes, and it makes sense it could cover its scent from Inuyasha."

"Enough already, how do I kill the damn thing?" Inuyasha shouted annoyed with the all talk no action. "Well, I'd recommend attacking it from behind, but it'll need to be distracted for that plan to work."

"To hell with it!" Inuyasha jumped slashing Tetsuiga at the already bothered harpy, causing it to give an ear-piercing screech as it dove away from Inuyasha's attack and then delving back at him wind streaking fiercely behind. Inuyasha pushed off the tree, trying for another blow, only to miss the creature once again, only enraging it more. Kagome watched as she noticed something in the Harpy's left eye; 'A jewel shard,' she thought to herself, she knew that she had been on the right track. "Inuyasha! It's left eye!"

"What?" Inuyasha yelled diving away and swinging a sharp hand at the harpy, "A jewel shard! In its left eye!"

"Left eye? Got it! You're going to hell you hag." The harpy cackled, speaking for the first time, its voice raspy and warped, "Kill me, fool, I am immortal, I can never be killed."

Inuyasha smirked, "That's all I needed to hear," he pushed with powerful feet off of a tree trunk and over the harpy's head, landing on it's feathered back. The harpy gave a squawk and thrashed trying to free herself from Inuyasha's grasp. Then with a powerful slice, he cut through the harpy's left eye, sending both him and the wounded harpy to the ground. Kagome rushed and disgustedly looked at the eye, "Don't just stand there! Get the jewel shard!" Inuyasha yelled trying to keep the mad harpy down.

"Oh, gross." Kagome complained pulling the jewel shard from the film-covered eye. The harpy lunged at Kagome, throwing Inuyasha off balance for a moment sending him to the ground on his own, a boomerang whistled through the air, hitting the harpy in the temple causing blood to trickle down the side of its scraggly head.

"These things are hard to kill," Sango said jumping up and catching the boomerang; Inuyasha leapt onto the harpy once again, it crying out and fighting it, weaker now without the jewel shard but still strong; then it came to Miroku, "Inuyasha, the head! It may be immortal but it'll die if its head is severed!"

Inuyasha did not need to hear more after that, however, before he could get a chance at the overgrown buzzard's head he received a scratched across his cheek, a result of the harpy flipping over and lashing at the diverted demon. With a vicious swing, he lopped the harpy's head clear off sending it rolling before a still dazed Shippo's feet.

"Huh, what?" He looked down seeing the one eyed bloodied head of the harpy and scrambled away either disgusted, horrified, or perhaps both; the others had never seen him run faster.

The fire blazed brightly, Kagome's eyes reflecting it sparkling within it; she had tucked the jewel shard away safely and was now in her own state of mind. Inuyasha watched her from up in the tree and shuddered, he could not bare the site of her now; he stood and walked out of the camp.

Miroku stood as well, "Where are you going?" Sango asked him as he got up, "Somewhere," was his only response as he to disappeared into the shadowy trees.

"Inuyasha!"

Inuyasha's ear twitched at the call of his name, he paused then recognizing the voice as the Monk's he turned, "What is it Miroku?" Inuyasha mumbled in an unkind manner.

"Hear me out," The Monk spoke quietly, "All day today I've noticed you; giving Kagome odd glances, not acknowledging her or looking her square in the eye. I'm not even sure if you have spoken a single kind word to her all day. Now come on, first you run out of camp last night without reason and are distant…What's going on?"

Realizing now that he was most likely not going to be able to avoid this any longer, Inuyasha sighed and sat down in the cool grass, Miroku soon followed sitting in the same, criss cross, fashion.

"Last night, I had a dream, it was like no other I had ever had before; so realistic, it was one of the most gut wrenching things I have experienced. I was high into the trees, snow whipping around me, I was chasing something, someone, they were below me, I knew who it was, however, I never wanted to admit to it. I chased this person, I chased her, until I hit the earth and went into a ground chase, she tried to jump over a fallen tree, but I leapt onto her, and told her vile things, horrible things, things I would never want to say to her. Nevertheless, she spoke as if she cared for me past a level of friendship, even though I was scaring her…And liking it."

Inuyasha stopped and sighed heavily, nonetheless, the Monk remained quiet; Inuyasha looked to the ground and continued.

"God Miroku, don't you understand?" He stood, now, defiant of the Monk's silence, "I told Kagome that she was my favorite person!" Miroku stood with him, "And what is wrong with this?"

"You still don't get it," Inuyasha said with a sad smile on his face, which quickly turned to an irate glare

"I told her she was my favorite person…To kill."


	3. Stranger in the Dark

**Disclaimer: **Yes, it is I again giving out another disclaimer, Rose is my muse, I love her, however she does not have the power, nor do I, to make me own Inuyasha…Basically I own none of these characters unless I bring in an original and I specify…Which isn't likely, so onward!

**Shadow:** Do not let her fool you, I have taught her everything she knows.

**Miss Murder:** Oh what? I have been writing since I could hold a pencil.

**Shadow:** Yep, it's true, she wouldn't be anything without me.

**Miss Murder:** Bitch please…You don't tell me, I know all.

**Shadow:** Yeah right…

**Miss Murder:** Do you want deleted?

**Shadow:** o0 Uh…On with the story!

Stranger in the Dark

Miroku stared at him, mouth dropped; taking him a good two or three minutes of composure, he then cleared his throat and rubbed the temples of his forehead stepping towards Inuyasha, who had stepped away from him into the shadow of a tree, now regretting and ashamed of what he just had said.

"Listen, Inuyasha, dreams are not always as they seem, sometimes they mean completely different things."

"Listen Miroku, I am fine, I never asked for your pity and I'm not about to start doing so now. So just drop it, it was just a dream and it means nothing, nothing, do you hear me? Nothing."

Miroku watched him dash off as he did once before, sighing, he turned and walked back to camp, a drawn in look upon his brow.

"Where's Inuyasha?"

Shippo questioned watching the Monk sit back down where he had once before; a moment or two later, while staring into the fire light, he replied: "He's gone off to do some—'' He paused for a moment, "Thinking." He finished muttering to himself more than to anyone.

Inuyasha ran, where he was going he knew not. All that mattered at this point was running, to the point of sweat, to the point of outrunning the one thing he new he could not: his own human emotions. He leapt over high branches, it wasn't necessary to do so, however, he felt the need to relieve some of his self caused tension.

He came to the edge of the thick tree line, without even a second thought he pushed himself over the dried up ravine that lay below him. Afterwards, he wasn't sure if it had been his speed or leg balance, but with an odd twist he plummeted to the ground with a loud 'Kerthump!' he hit the ground, his back catching the full extent of the blow. He held in a yelp and ground his teeth together, if anyone else was around at that moment, he would have been up and had composure regained, however, since he was alone, he sat there stunned for a moment and actually stopping to let his body realize that there was pain shocks going through him. He had never noticed them before that moment, how sore they really were until he just sat there and let them run…

It was because of his internal instinct to not show pain or weakness to anyone.

"Damnit!" He cursed to himself as he stood up and brushed himself off.

"So prim and proper, aren't we?"

Inuyasha's head snapped to the right on full alert now, searching for the body of the voice; he turned in two full circles, gritting his teeth and omitting a slight growl from his throat.

"You wouldn't want your beloved Kagome to notice you have fallen, now would you? You must be clean."

"Where the hell are you?"  
Inuyasha snarled fully annoyed, if it were a normal day he may have been able to keep a bit more calm. But at this moment he was neither in somewhat of a good mood or was he feeling kind.

"Tsk tsk Inuyasha, have some manners."

Inuyasha noticed a small figure in the shadows, he bolted at it, only a white flash could be seen; however, all he received for his efforts was a fist full of tree bark. He ripped his splintered hand from the tree whipping around, and there in a patch of moonlight he sat.

He was a small boy, looking no more than the age of ten, his face dirty and his eyes covered by the shade of a wicker helmet. He had a long red scar across his open chest; a childish smirk running along his small lips as he crossed his leather string bound arms. They criss crossed all the way down to his finger times in small strips, his pants were beige, ratted up and torn at the bottoms. He wore no shoes, this boy looked like he had lived with no parents for a very long time.

Inuyasha glared at the boy and spat: "Who the hell are you?"

The boy's smirk increased slightly as he shifted to the right.

"You don't have a very large vocabulary do you?"

"What do you want from me, and how do you know my name?" Inuyasha balled his hands into fists and remained unmoving; the boy laughed quietly, picking up a stick and swiping at grass growing within the ravine near him.

"I know a lot of things Inuyasha, the question is, what do you know?"

Inuyasha gave him a cold stare, "What is that suppose to mean?" Inuyasha questioned watching the boy's movement with the stick.

"I don't know, you decide for yourself."

The boy said with a shrug as he turned walking down the empty river bed.

Inuyasha followed along the bank, keen with exasperated interest; "Hey, kid where the hell are you from?"

The boy shrugged once again as he kept going; Inuyasha dashed at him and the boy stopped and waited for him as he grabbed his open vest and held him just above his head. The boy didn't squirm, and he didn't cry out, he simply stared at him with no emotions in his hollow eyes.

"I don't know who you are, or where you are from, but if I don't start getting some answers, I'm going to tear you apart."

The boy's stare remained true, he parted his lips slowly and whispered quietly, "Inuyasha, you will learn all of this in time."

And with a snap of a finger, the boy was gone; Inuyasha stood there, with an empty hand, he looked around, his stark silver hair flailing every which way with his rapid movement. He stepped to the left and then the right, pulling out Tetsuiga he gave a mighty swing, blowing two trees out of the ground.

"Where are you? You bastard? Where in the hell are you?" He scream into the bleak darkness, he searched everywhere around the ravine; without realizing it, he exerted much energy. With the combination of anger, movement, and adrenaline, he collapsed into the ravine once again.

He pounded the ground with his fists, cursing and growling, as if the boy were still there, which he probably was not.

"Where are you? Where in the fucking hell are you?" He dented into the ground harder each time he threw a punch until finally he stopped, his breath heavy. His arms grew limp as his movement came more slow, he soon fell, lying there, motionless, and feeling defeated and broken. For hours, he did not move, he felt dead, he had let his anger get to him, and he felt so drained of it, what had brought him to this point. He could only think of one thing.

His dream.

The firelight had been out for twenty minutes now, Kagome still lay awake in the silence of the night, Shippo nestled in the crook of her arm she sighed, worried about Inuyasha.

_'Where could he be?'_

She shifted slightly and then suddenly became very still when she heard a slight rustle in the bushes. She heard light, almost soundless footsteps enter the camp; Kagome heard the familiar sound of someone climbing up a tree. She was now sure it was Inuyasha, sitting up she whispered into the darkness:

"Inuyasha?"

However, he gave her no response.


	4. The First Scare

**Disclaimer:** Yada yada, I don't own Inuyasha characters, and if I did, why in the hell would I be doing Fan Fiction?

**Shadow:** Wow, you're on a roll aren't you?

**Miss Murder:** Do you always talk?

**Shadow:** Ooooh, Miss Negative, aren't we.

**Miss Murder:** I am morbidly humorous, and plus, I am happy right now, I have the Durkee shirt.

**Shadow:** The readers will not understand that…

**Miss Murder: **Yes, but we will.

**Shadow:** Yes, yes we will.

_The First Scare_

They headed back to the village in silence, Kagome always seemed to have her head in the opposite direction of anyone looking at her, Miroku made no passes towards any of the girls, even Shippo didn't talk much. It was discomfited for this group to not speak; as they neared the village a woman came running towards them, her face tear streaked, her mouth running as if every word might be her last.

"Please, demon, please, my lady, monk, slayer, and little fox," She hiccupped, she seemed to be going into hysterics. "My, my son…Not, he's…" She went into a fit of indistinct words. Kagome put an arm around her and the woman crumpled to the ground, sobbing into Kagome's chest, the others seemed to surround them looking down at the woman.

"It's going to be okay," Kagome said patting her back. The woman looked up at her, trying to regain control of her emotions. wiping her red, puffy cheeks she trembled finding her words slowly, "My son…He has been missing for the last week. I put him to bed and I got up in the night, and he…and he…he wasn't there!" She began to sob again.

Kagome comforted her and questioning her all at once, "Do you know anyone who would do this?"

"No," She cried softly, "Please, you must help me find him, he is only seven years old," Kagome looked up at Inuyasha, staring into his amber eyes. He grunted as she sighed, then looking back at the woman she began to tell her something…

"I can't believe this, we aren't even back in the village and boom, we're off again, and we aren't even looking for jewel shards!"

Inuyasha scowled as the group walked north of the village; Kagome shook her head in disbelief.

"Is that all you care about Inuyasha? Jewel shards, you are just so selfish sometimes." Inuyasha stopped for a moment, slightly astounded at what the girl had said to him. Regaining himself he snatched her arm and pulled her close.

"Now how in the hell can you say that? I bend over backwards just to make sure you don't break a nail. I'm selfish? I think you may be looking at the wrong mirror there Kagome. Whenever you're in trouble all I hear is: Inuyasha, save me, or, Inuyasha come kill this…And I never hear a thank you, or even a nod of recognition"

He growled at her and then dropped her arm, walking away; Kagome stared at his back, shocked at his cruelty, she had never seen Inuyasha act this hostile before. Sure, he wasn't nice to her, but this seemed much different.

"Don't worry about it Kagome, he's just grumpy."

She felt a little hand tug at her skirt, averting her eyes downward, Shippo smiled up at her.

"I heard that!"

They both heard Inuyasha shout from ahead.

"Well, you've got to admit, he does have a comical way about him." Shippo said, looking back at Kagome once again; though she looked as if she hadn't heard him.

The twilight of the evening sky gave off an eerie peacefulness as the group sat at camp, Inuyasha and Kagome had ceased speaking to each other since that afternoon, it was better that way. The others had been quieter as well for that evening, Kagome and Inuyasha were seemingly the two that made wheels of conversation turn in this small group.

Kagome then stood up and looked at the others; breaking the silence she announced to them:

"Well, I'm going to go and bathe, because unlike some of us," She gave Inuyasha a stifling glare, "I like to keep clean."

"Whatever, it doesn't help either way," Inuyasha murmured under his breath.

"Sit boy!" Was her only reply, thatgave way to theloud ground breaking slap reverberating off of the earth as his face met it.

"They fight like a married couple," Miroku murmured to Sango, she nodded in agreement when their head's cringed from the startling scream of, "I can still hear you!" They sighed and drooped their heads, it was going to be a long night.

Kagome walked through the bushes, never in her life had she been so angry with anyone. "My brother is more mature than that no good, dirty, rotten, conniving, candid,--" She lost herself in her own thoughts as she approached the river.

"Finally."

Kagome smiled to herself as she stripped off her clothing and dipped a toe into the water; it was warm, not as warm as the hot springs, but satisfying enough as she slid in and closed her eyes. She rested up against the edge when she heard a voice across from her:

"Hello Kagome,"

Her eyes shot open as she looked around frantically, not sure of where the voice had come from. "Don't worry, I'm not Inuyasha as you would have hoped…"

"WHAT?" Kagome shouted, alarmed, "That is such bull shit!" She stopped herself and put a hand over her mouth, she usually disliked cussing and was trying to stop it all together, even the occasional 'damn.' However when something ruffed her fur, so to speak, she sometimes jumped the gun a bit.

"I'm sure it is," The voice said sarcastically; she looked over into the shadows and realized that there was a person there. "Who—Who are you?" She questioned nervously, sliding under the water a little more.

"Nobody in particular."

"Well…What do you want?" Kagome shook as she asked the question, why was she so afraid? The person turned out to be a small, dirtied up, homeless looking boy, Kagome couldn't see his face, a little of his shadowed mouth, but not much more.

"Oh, to show you something," He stepped forward; he noticed Kagome move away, hiding herself more from the boy, embarrassed. "Sorry," The boy commented, "I know you only want one person to see you naked and unfortunately for you, I'm not him…" He paused for a moment and then added, "Just follow me in the river, you wont have to get out and expose yourself."

Kagome eyed him for a moment, nevertheless, her curiosity ended up having her follow the boy. He lead her down stream, following the turns and twists of the water; she kept him in view, however, she kept to the opposite side of the river.

Suddenly the boy stopped, he did not face Kagome, but she could feel an odd smile come about him; she shivered in the water, the wet ends of her hair draping over her moist shoulders. He turned to face her, she could now see his mischievous smile.

"My master wanted me to show you this…"

"Wh—Who's your master?" Kagome stammered feeling her nerves rise on end as the moments past; she could feel her heart pound into her chest, this boy was starting to scare her and he had given her no reason to do so aside from his strange and random appearance.

"Oh…You might know him…He knows you and your friends quite well. Anyways, I should be off, goodnight Kagome," The boy laughed and was gone with a blink of Kagome's long lashed eyes. When she looked past where the boy was standing by a large tree she gasped; her eyes widened with horror as she cupped her hand on her mouth and let off a terrifiedscream.

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he shook he looked around frantically; the others as well were startled by the sound of a far off scream, although to Inuyasha it sounded all to close.

"That was Kagome," He said standing up and taking off through the trees, the rest of the group trailed behind him; Inuyasha's feet hit and pushed off of each branch quicker than they had in a while; he then jumped down and bounded on foot until he saw the figure of Kagome in the water, screaming still, he could smell her fear even from there.

He skidded over to her and without thinking pulled her out of the water, his face went slightly red when he momentarily realized that she was stark naked in front of him, however he soon forgot when she pushed against him, hiding, her head buried into his chest.

He put a hand on her sodden back, a slight tremor going through him. "Kagome," He began, "What's wrong?" The only response she gave him conversely was her repeated panicked voice saying "Oh my God, oh my God!" She gripped with her hands onto his shirt, he could feel not only the water from her soaked body, but salt tears from her eyes.

"Kagome…What's the matter," He questioned again running a hand down and up her back; she looked up and him shaking as she slowly pointed over towards the tree, and there, hanging, was the bloody, mangled corpse of what could barely be made out as a young, human boy.


End file.
